Bonds of Trust
by Madj
Summary: Emma has plans for Hook and some handcuffs. CS feels and fluff.


"Hook, how many times have I tied you up now?"

The room went suddenly still, the silence broken only by the muffled laugh-turned-cough from Robin Hood.

_Yeah, that's right. Robin freaking Hood._

Emma drummed her fingers on the table and wondered, what the hell was her life? She was sitting around a table discussing strategy against the Wicked Witch with Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, Robin Hood, Captain Hook and Grumpy the dwarf.

She saw Hook shoot a glance at her father before he leaned back in his chair and smirked at her. "Well, darling, I've quite lost track; you do so enjoy restraining me."

This time, Robin didn't even bother to disguise his laugh.

"How would you like to even the score a little bit?" She grinned at Hook and pulled out her handcuffs, waving them in his direction.

He didn't answer, frowning slightly as his eyes followed the handcuffs.

"What are you thinking?" David asked finally, eyes darting between the two of them.

"You said we needed a diversion, right? Well, what could be more of a diversion than Hook waltzing in there and handing over one of the people on the Wicked Witch's Most Wanted list?" She dropped the cuffs on the table. "That'll keep her busy while you guys get the ruby slippers, Regina can poof right in there with us, and if the slippers boost magic as much as she thinks, the two of us can take the bitch out once and for all."

She knew it wouldn't be as easy as that; it never was. But she was fed up with yet another psycho fictional character targeting everyone she cared about. They'd already lost Neal, and she planned to do everything in her power to make sure they didn't lose anyone else.

"It's too risky," Mary Margaret said.

"It'll be fine. Look, every one of us at this table is guilty of underestimating Hook," Emma argued. She glanced over to see that he was utterly still, staring hard at the tabletop. "Me most of all. We heard 'pirate' and made certain assumptions about him. Certain _wrong_ assumptions. I'm willing to bet the witch will think the same. She'll have no problem believing he'd betray us to save himself."

"There's one slight problem with that plan, love," Hook finally spoke up. "She's got spies all over town."

Emma frowned. "And?"

"And," Regina spoke up, "everyone and their brother knows the pirate is crazy about you. He'd never turn you over to the witch."

This time Emma was the one staring at the table, avoiding everyone's eyes. She knew she was blushing but pushed through anyway. "Well, that works, too," she said, as evenly as possible. "He can tell her that I … rejected him. She sees people as just pawns in her game, so she wouldn't be surprised to find a princess using a pirate, right? It's what she would do."

"It could work," Leroy said. "And we haven't come up with anything else."

"I don't like the idea of you going in there tied up and unarmed," David said.

Emma shrugged. "Regina taught me an unlocking spell, so with a little practice I think I can lose the handcuffs whenever I choose, and she's had me working on that shielding spell so much I could do it in my sleep. Besides, I'll have Hook to look after me."

"He'd never let anything happen to me" went unsaid, but everyone knew it all the same.

With nobody else offering a better idea, the meeting broke up soon after. Emma waited until everyone else had filed out of the conference room before she stood and leaned against the table beside Hook's chair.

"You hate this plan," she said.

"It's dangerous."

"So's walking across the street nowadays," she said, shuddering at the memory of Archie, who had to be hospitalized after he got dive-bombed by a pack of flying monkeys. "We have to do _something_."

He sighed and pushed to his feet, walking to the window and looking out. "Aye."

She watched him, unsure. She'd thought he'd be up for it; these days he fought tooth and nail to be at her side no matter what. "I'm … I'm sorry I just volunteered you," she said hesitantly. "I thought … if you don't want to do it, maybe someone else can —"

"No," he turned. "You're right; she'll have no trouble believing that the villainous Captain Hook would turn on you lot to save his own skin. And the idea of a pirate in love with a princess, it's ridiculous. Not a proper fairy tale story at all."

_Ohhhh_.

Emma closed her eyes and bit her lip. Things between the two of them had been good, but kind of strange. Everyone knew his feelings for her, and he didn't even try to hide the fact that he wanted his happy-ever-after with her.

Her feelings were not so clear.

She knew she loved him. She'd known for a while now. But just the idea of admitting it, of moving forward in their relationship was enough to give her a panic attack. She had once vowed never to open her heart to another man; even when she was cursed and involved with Walsh she had held a large part of herself back for fear of getting hurt.

Something told her she wouldn't be able to hold anything back from Hook if they went down that path.

So they were friends.

They spent all their time together, sometimes with Henry, sometimes alone. They talked, they flirted, she taught him about her world and he told her about his. He always had her back in a fight, no matter what.

All the while, there was a tension, a question skimming through every moment, like a low hum that was starting to drive her (and, she assumed, him) crazy. It was partly sexual, because lord knew she spent an unhealthy amount of time imagining what it would be like between them, but it was also more than that.

Sometimes she would catch him watching her, looking for something. Trying to see inside her head or her heart, trying to know. _Do you love me, Swan? Can you?_

It wasn't fair for her to drag things out, she knew. But she was so afraid. She needed him so much already; what would she do if she lost him now?

Still, they were going into a very dangerous situation. Something could happen to either one of them; what if she died without ever telling him how she felt? What if he did? Maybe it was time to move forward, even if it was just a little bit.

She cleared her throat. "That's not exactly true," she said, opening her eyes and meeting his across the room. "My favorite movie ever is called 'The Princess Bride,' and it's a sort of fairy tale about a pirate and a princess."

"Ahhh," he said, walking toward her, fingers scratching absently at his neck. His tone was light, but his eyes were very serious. "This pirate and princess, they were in love?"

"They were. In fact, they had a love so true that even death couldn't stop it."

He smiled slightly. "Well, that doesn't sound like a very nice story."

"It's a great story," she said. They were standing so close she could feel his breath, and her fingers itched to grab his collar and pull him to her like she'd done in Neverland. _Baby steps, Emma._ Instead she took a deep breath and looked away. "Henry and I will show it to you when we get back."

"I'll be counting the moments." The words should have been sarcastic, but the tone of his voice said he meant it.

She reached for the handcuffs on the table and dangled them in front of him. "Until then," she said. "Help a girl out?"

She hung the cuffs from his hook and turned her back to him. "I need to practice that unlocking spell."

"Oh, my pleasure, love," he said in her ear, making her jump at his proximity. He closed one cuff around her wrist and slid his hand slowly down the other arm, making her shiver.

"Cold, Swan?" His thumb skimmed the sensitive skin of her other wrist as his lips brushed her ear.

Cold? Not hardly. More like burning up. She'd never even entertained the idea of letting a lover tie her up before, but she suddenly had a very clear vision of Hook handcuffing her to a bed and letting him do anything he wanted with her, and _damn_ was that hot.

She swallowed hard and willed her voice to be even. "No," she said as he cuffed her other wrist. "I'm good."

He hummed low and pulled slowly away, his fingers tangling slightly with hers before he released her. She deliberately pushed any thoughts of Hook and sex out of her mind so she could focus on the lock.

She had no time to think about any of that right now. After the mission, however …


End file.
